Ice-box.



A'.lLLBLmeR.

ICE Box.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 23,1909.

'Patented oct. 18,1910..

Z SHEETS-SHEET 1.

/llfl [VIII/Ill @Hue nlm T. J. ELDER.

ICE BOX.

APPLIOATIOH FILED DB0. as, 1909.

Patented ont. 18,1910.

.2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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THOMAS J. ELDER, OF .PILOT POINT, TEXAS.

E-BOX.

Speoioation of Letters Patent.

Patented et. 18,' 1919.

Application led December 23, 1909. Serial No. 534,821.

p specification.

This invention relates to ice boxes or refrigerators and more particularly to a de' vice of this character especially designed for cooling bottled beverages.

Heretofore it has been customary to place bottles in the ice compartment of a refrigerator or the like so as to quickly cool them and to maintain them at a desired temperature. In order to remove the bottles, however, it has been necessary to open the lid of the ice box or the door communicatin with said box, and this, obviously, has resu ted in.

the admission of a considerable amount of warm air which therefore has melted the ice to an objectionable extent.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an ice box oi' refrigerator having a runway extending under the ice compartment but opening thereinto, said runway being designed to contain a series of bottles which may be withdrawn one at a time from the front end of the runway, without the necessity of obtaining access to the ice compartment.

Another object is to provide a runway into which the bottles can be conveniently placed, said bottles being fed by gravity to the discharge end of the runway.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

1n the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

ln said drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through that ortion of an ice box or refrigerator emb ying the present improvements. Fig. 2 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in section, of said device. Fig. 3 is a view partly in plan and partly in section of the said device. Fig. 4 1s a section on line A--B, Fig. 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, '1 designates the casing of the ice box or refrigerator, the same being of the usual or any preferred construction and being provided with an interior housing 2 formed of zinc or other suitable metal and which is fitted preferably in the upper portlon of the casing l, there being an arcuate partition 3 extending throughout the width of the housing 1 and extending from the rear upper corner thereof downwardly to the bottom of the housing at a point adjacent its front. This partition thus subdivides the housing into a storage compartment 4 and an ice compartment 5. The storage compartment is normally closed at the back by means of a door 6 connected to the casing 1.

A series of parallel guide strips 7 is arranged upon the upper face of the partition 3, these strips forming channels 8 therebetween which extend from the top of the housing 2 at the back thereof to the front of the bottom of said housing. The width and depth of each channel is slightly greater than the greatest diameter of a bottle to be placed within the device. The lower end of each channel is closed normally by means of a hinged door 9, one of these doors being provided for each channel and all of the doors being located directly back of a front door 10, which is hingedly connected to the front of the casing 1. The upper ends of the channels are normally closed by means of a door 11 connected to the top of the casing 1, there being another and larger door 12 connected to the top of the casing and serving to close the top of the ice compartment 5.

An arcuate reticulated cover 13 is supported by the strips 7 and extends from the upper ends thereof downwardly to cleats 14 which are disposed parallel with the bottom of the housing2 and above the front portion of said bottom, these cleats constituting supports for an apertured shelf 15 on which the ice is designed to be placed. Drain openings 16 are formed in the strips 7 at points adjacent the lower end of the arcuate partition 3 and a drain pipe 17 is arranged in one side of the casing 1 and housing 2 and preferably in alinement with these openings.

In using the device herein described, ice is placed within the compartment 5 and will be supported by the shelf 15 and also by the reticulated cover 13. The bottles to be filled are then placed one at a time within the channels 8 and with their necks downward bottles can be placed in the channel, the

number being dependent upon the length of the channel. As these bottles lie close to the ice, they will soon be cooled thereby, and moreover this cooling operation will be greatly facilitated by the ice water which drips upon the bottles and passes outward through the apertures 16 and the drain pipe 17. 1t is of course to be understood that it is necessary to open the door 11 in order to place the bottles within the channels. After .the channels have been lledthe said door may be closed. When it is desired to remove a bottle from the device, the door 10 is opened and one of the doors 9 is then swung upwardly and the bottle directly in the rear thereof is drawn outwardly. The

' remaining bottles within said channel will then move downwardly by gravity and with the first one in position close to the door. If desired, and as shown in Fig. 1,7a stop cleat 18 may be arranged in each channel at a point adjacent the front end thereof so as to constitute an abutment for limiting the forward sliding movement of the bottle; It is to be understood of course that the compartment 4 may be used for storing the bottles prior to their being placed within the channels 8.

It Will be noted that all parts of the device are readily accessible. When it is desired to clean the channels and the ice compartment, it is merely necessary to open the doors 11 and 12 and to then lift the shelf 15 and the arcuate cover 13 from their normal positions. By opening the door 6 the interior of the compartment A can be conveniently reached for the purpose of cleaning it.

It is to be understood that, if desired, the channels in which the bottles are placed, can be formed entirely of wire netting in lieu of the imperforate metal plate shown and described. Y

It is of course to be understood that Various changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

What is claimed is 1. A device'of the class described including a housing, an arcuate partition therein, parallel strips upon said partition and forming longitudinal arcuate guide channels, each channel having an inlet at its upper end and an outlet at its lower end, a foraminous cover extending over the channels and constituting an ice support, closures at the ends of the channels.

2. A device of the class described including a housing, a downwardly and forwardly extending partition within the housing, parallel strips upon said partition and forming channels therebetween, said channels having inlets at their upper ends and outlets at their lower ends, and a cover extending over the channels and constituting an ice support.

3. A device of the class described including a housing, a downwardly and forwardly extending partition within the housing, up-

standing Y strips upon said partition and forming channels therebetween, said channels having inlets at their upper ends and outlets at their lower ends, closures for the inlets and outlets, a cover extending over the channels and constituting anice support, and means within each channel for limiting the downward movement of bottles within the channel.

4. The combination with a casing, of a housing therein, a downwardly and forwardly inclined partition within the housing, parallel upstanding strips upon said partition .and forming channels therebetween, said channels having inlets at their upper ends and outlets at their lower ends, a closure upon the casing and normally closing the inlets of the channels, separate closures at the lower ends of the channels, a closure upon the casing and in front of said separate closures, and av cover extending over the strips and channels and constituting an icesupport.

5. A device ofthe class described'incl'uding a housing having an inlet and an outlet, separate closures for the inlet and outlet, parallel channels for directing bottles by gravity from the inlet to the outlet, separate closures for the outlet ends of the channels, and a foraminous cover extending over the channels and constituting an ice support.

6. A device of the class described including a housing, said housing having an inlet and an outlet, channels for directing objects by gravity from the inlet and toward the outlet, means within each channel for limiting such movement of the. objects, and a foraminous cover extending over the channels and constituting an ice support.

7 A device of the class described including a housing having an inlet and an outlet, channels for directing bottles by gravity from the inlet and toward the outlet, separate closures for the outlet ends of the channels, means within said channels for bringing bottles to a Stop before contacting with the closures at the outlet ends of the channels, and means for supporting ice above the channels.

8. A device of the class described includin a housin an arcuate artition therein En testimon that claim the fore oirlg as g g y g and forming a receptacle t ereunder, chanmy ovvns I have hereto aed my slgnature nels upon the partitlon or directin bottles im the presence of two Witnesses.

by gravity toward one end of said c annels, TOMAS J. ELDE. 5 separate closures for the outlet ends of the "VV 1tnesses:

channels, and means for supporting a re- J. Bums,

frigeramt above the channels. El C. BLACKWELL. 

